Roger, my beagle/basset, does what all dogs his breed do: He follows his nose. Unfortunately, that means anywhere, including the farm across the road from where we live, where all the really awesome smells are.

After some debate, my wife and I decided to buy an Invisible Fence system for our property, so we wouldn’t have to take Roger out on a leash so often.

The system works, infallibly, but the training process was painful, and we felt guilty about putting a shock collar around his neck.

It didn’t help either that Invisible Fence called its product a “containment system,” which sounded an awful lot like a pet penitentiary.

Yesterday, my latest collar battery replacement came in the mail with this reassuring messaging on the envelope: “The brand vets recommend most for dog safety and freedom.”

Wow, Invisible Fence isn’t a containment system at all. It’s Roger’s ticket to greater freedom, demonstrating how a single word can totally reframe how a product is marketed and perceived.